Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is known for his fierce negotiating skills and reportedly believes he can force the Catalans to lower their asking price for Spain’s all-time leading goalscorer.

Villa has a clause in his contract that will see his salary increase by a whopping €3.5m (£3m) to €11m (£9m) in the final year of his deal and La Liga champions are therefore desperate to get the former Valencia striker off their books.

The Spain international made just 17 La Liga starts for Barca last term, scoring ten goals, and the arrival of £50m superstar Neymar has forced Villa further down the pecking order in Catalonia.